This gown was made from Jenny Chancey's Sensibility pattern a few years ago, of raw silk and is fully lined with white cotton muslin. It is a more formal dress, worn to re-enactments and historical events.

The clothes displayed in this sewing series were not all made in one year. I made about 4 garments per year. If a person just sewed four dresses a year, they could build up a collection. Naturally, the first year's clothes would wear more, but eventually it could built up to a substantial collection of good clothing.

This field of daisies cotton fabric is something I am looking at for a future sewing project. I even found some daisy shaped buttons on sale for 50c. They are not all the same size, but it does not matter, as I will use them anyway. When you are sewing for yourself, you can do what you want. The piece of co-ordinating green fabric might be a sash or a border on the hem, border on the sleeves, or some other detail.

17 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Ooooh--this one is gorgeous!!Thank you so much for showing it, especially on your "mature" figure. :D (which is pretty great for your 'age', in my opinion.)This is one of the Simplicity Costume patterns I picked up this week at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents. I hope it will look as good on me!!Do you have any experience with the differences between the Simplicity edition of this pattern, and the original from Sense and Sensibility?

Also, do you have any closer photos of how you did your hair? It looks lovely, and I am always trying to find more/better ways to wear my long hair at 47.

(Might hair-styling be the topic of another series, to go along with the dresses or paintings?)

This is too funny. Just last night, I washed and dried that same piece of material,'Field of Daisies' but in blue instead of pink. I plan to, Lord willing, sew it into a new dress for me this week. I am not sure if I want to do buttons down the front or a zipper in the back. Those daisy buttons would work nicely for me too.Last week, I made a purse using a quilted material that I bought at Joann's. I have had many compliments on it. It was easy to sew and now I can make coordinating purses with my left over dress material.It's a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing so others can learn about it too. Please don't get discouraged by those who disagree with you. There are plenty of other ladies who enjoy all of the time and effort that you put into your posts.

These ideas are lovely - today's post and the previous one too, with so many ideas that would be adaptable for different ages and body shapes. The silk dress is so very elegant and modest at the same time - I can see it being used as a wedding dress. I'm sure that you already have a list of possible future topics (or I might have missed an occasional post), but have you ever done anything specific on wedding dresses? So many of the ones I see today, even on brides who profess to be religiously conservative , seem to me to be far from modest. I'm perhaps dating myself when I say that when I was married (many years ago LOL), it was expected that brides having a church wedding would wear modestly cut dresses with at least some sort of sleeve - a low-cut or strapless gown (as so many are today) would be out of the question. Am I being too old-fashioned? Maternity wear is another area where I so often see some remarkable sights!

Thanks for your constant inspiration and willingness to say what needs to be said.

In response to the question on doing up one's hair, I remembered an article Lady Lydia had written for LAF on this topic. I had found it quite inspiring.

However, I went to the "Lady Lydia Speaks" section at LAF and was unable to find this article again. Lady Lydia, has it been removed? If so, could you reprint it here?

To any of you unaware that there are many wonderful articles by Lady Lydia on clothing, homemaking, comportment, etc on the LAF website . . . good reading over there! To the left of the main page, near the top, there is a link to all of her articles called, "Lady Lydia Speaks". Don't miss that at the bottom of the search results page you'll find a "next page" link. There are several pages of articles!

I have just returned from another trip and am catching up on your blog. Thank you for sharing your dress designing ideas. They look lovely on you. You are "sew" inspiring. Imagination and thoughtful choice can result in unique outfits as you have well laid out. Maybe you have a new book in the offing--Dressing Up with Lady Lydia--to the glory of God and the pleasure of your loved ones! It is a real joy to read your blog.

I found a card-size version of "Summer Love" at a thrift store for 10 cents and bought it and had it framed. I have only been looking for the name of the painting and the artist for over six months now, so Thank You so much for the information! Also thanks for the inspiring posts not just on clothing, but everything. I am a new bride and a mother and it is so appreciated and has literally changed my life and outlook on so many things. Lastly, I found a book from the 70's that shows how to make 3 different basic body shape dresses and adds to them from there-everything from sleeves, collars, necklines and hem lengths. Even though it was from the 70's one could alter these dresses from modern to historical. I haven't sewn for awhile but this one book is like having literally hundreds of patterns and I picked the book up for 5 dollars at a thrift store.

This is one of those comments I have to "cut in half and divide by 2"--you have to take in to consideration that these dresses cost me my housekeeping while I was making them. ALthough I only made 4 a year, sewers know that you have to really let the house go, and it is quite a chore to catch up. If you have small children, I would not recommend that you get too deep in sewing. You can do it in spurts--a sleeve here and a hem there, till it is done, and not neglect your home.

Four garments a year is just one every three months. That way, you dont have to be in the "sweat shop" by your sewing machine and iron all the time. Sewing is actually hard labor!

I will try to post the tutorials for hair accessories, and also a step by step of the New Look pattern 6352.

I have had several people ask me to put paintings of African, Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, on the board. Until I get a chance to do this, you can look up the paintings of Mexican painter Consuelo Gamboa here

It's so true, that sewing is actually hard labour, and while one is sweating at the machine, the housework will not be done! The house will be quite messy afterwards. So one must really organize things well, so that the housework doesn't get too much after a sewing phase. I always force myself to clean up everything before I go to bed in the evening. For example, today I have cutted out several patterns. But when the children are in bed (and my husband fast asleep!), I will continue folding laundery, ironing, cleaning. I know, one shouldn't work at night, but this is only from time to time, and one feels better this way.

I'm full of plans for new dresses and very enthusiastic thanks to your inspiration!

You are a wonderful seamstress! Your dresses are so very inspiring and beautiful.

I do have a question. Since you are using 100% cotton (and especially with the muslin), do wash these fabric prior to cutting and sewing? It seems that when I use muslin as a lining, it shrinks so much under the skirts that I don't use it for other clothing projects. I would greatly appreciate you addressing this with the cotton fabrics.

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